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Biotech / Medical : Pharmacyclics (PCYC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: scaram(o)uche who wrote (484)	8/20/1999 4:37:00 PM
From: Gordon James	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 717

Can't recall if PCYC has ever indicated interest in developing Lu-Tex for psoriasis - anyone have info? biz.yahoo.com Thursday August 19, 1:04 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc. QLT commences clinical trial to treat psoriasis VANCOUVER, Aug. 19 /CNW-PRN/ - QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc. announced today that it has commenced a Phase II clinical trial to investigate photodynamic therapy with verteporfin as a treatment for moderate to severe psoriasis. The open-label, randomized study will involve approximately 42 patients at three centers in Canada. Participating investigators include Dr. Harvey Lui, FRCPC from Vancouver General Hospital, Dr. Robert Bissonnette, FRCPC from Centre Hospitalier de L'Universit\006 de Montr\006al, and Dr. Daniel Schachter, FRCPC from the Dermatology Center in Toronto. Psoriasis is considered an autoimmune condition in which an excessive proliferation of cells in the outermost layer of the skin often results in painful and disfiguring inflamed lesions or plaques. According to a 1996 National Psoriasis Foundation survey, in the U.S. 2.6% or approximately 6.4 million individuals are affected by the disease, with one-third suffering from a moderate to severe form of the condition. Current treatment options often provide short-lived effectiveness and pose the risk of toxic side effects. ``It is clear that a need still exists to develop better treatments,' said Dr. Julia Levy, President and CEO of QLT. ``Promising results in our earlier-phase clinical studies strongly suggest that our approach could lead to a potentially safer therapy with enhanced efficacy for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis.' In this trial, QLT will employ a proprietary, novel application of photodynamic therapy, called Immuno-PDT, which the company developed to treat autoimmune conditions, including psoriasis. The trial protocol requires each patient to receive a series of nine weekly intravenous injections of verteporfin, followed by exposure to various strengths of specialized light over the entire body. The Psoriatic Area and Severity Index (PASI) score will be used to assess efficacy and biopsies will be performed to detect changes in cellular markers. QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc. is a world leader in the development and commercialization of proprietary pharmaceutical products for use in photodynamic therapy, an emerging field of medicine utilizing light-activated drugs in the treatment of disease. QLT's portfolio of products include Visudyne(TM), a therapy in final stages of testing to treat the wet form of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness among the elderly, and PHOTOFRIN©, the world's only approved photodynamic therapy drug, used in the treatment of various cancers throughout North America, Japan and Europe. Visudyne(TM) is a trademark of Novartis AG PHOTOFRIN© is a registered trademark of QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc.